Money is money is money is money.
The Equal Tax Act ensures that millionaire investors aren’t paying a lower tax rate on their income than working people pay on theirs. Tell Congress, pass the Equal Tax Act today!
The Equal Tax Act ensures that wealthy investors aren’t paying a lower tax rate on their income than working people pay on theirs by taxing investment income at the same rate as earned income for those earning over $1 million annually and ending the stepped-up basis loophole, with unprecedented protections for family farms and businesses.
Six reasons we should equalize the capital gains and ordinary income rate >>
Why Equal Tax Act?
There is a solution. It’s simple. And it can be done, now.
These millionaires say equalize capital gains and ordinary income.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What does the Equal Tax Act do?
For individuals with over $1 million in annual income, the ETA raises the top tax rate paid on investment income to match the top tax rate paid on income earned from working. This ensures that a playboy heir lounging on his superyacht finally pays the same rate on his investment income as an ER doctor working 24-hour shifts pays on her salary.
The bill also closes the “stepped-up basis” loophole by treating capital gains as realized at the time of gift or death. The loophole is key to the “buy-borrow-die” strategy that currently allows the ultra-rich to completely avoid paying income taxes on investments that are held till death. The ETA includes sensible protections and exclusions to protect family-owned farms and businesses.
Q: Why is equalizing tax rates fair?
Giving preferential tax treatment to investment income is unfair on its face. After all, it’s all income, so why shouldn’t it be taxed the same? Giving special tax treatment to a kind of income overwhelmingly held by the richest Americans while taxing working Americans at higher rates, is corrosive to public trust.
Q: How much revenue does it raise?
When President Biden first included this proposal as part of his Build Back Better agenda, OMB predicted that it would raise more than $322 billion over ten years. Now, following passage of the Trump megabill in 2025, the ETA would almost certainly raise far more revenue—and only from those taxpayers with annual incomes over $1 million.